Meter dial resetting mechanism



April 1969 L. J. SUND BLOM 3,437,269

METER DIAL RESETTING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 29, 1966 Sheet of 5 INVENTOR. LEIF J. SUNDBLOM zfiw ATTORNEYS L. J. SUN DBLOM METER DIAL RESETTING MECHANISM April 8, 1969 Sheet 2 brs Filed Dec. 29, 1966 INVENTOR. LEIF J. SUNDBLOM ATTORNEYS April 8, 1969 1.. J. SUNDBLOM METER DIAL RESETTING MECHANISM Sheet Filed Dec. 29, 1966 FIG INVENTOR. LEIF J. SUNDBLOM ATTORNEYS April 1969 L. J. SUNDBLOM 3,437,269

METER DIAL RESETTING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 29, 1966 Sheet 4 of 5 INVENTOR. LE IF J. SUNDBLOM ATTQRNEYS April 1969 1.. J. SUNDBLOM 3,437,269

METER DIAL RESETTING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 29, 1966 Sheet ,2 0f 5 FIG..1O

INVENTOR. LEIF J. SUNDBLOM M Mr 21/ ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent U.S. Cl. 235-144 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Meter dials are reset from random positions by using an adaptation of a Geneva drive to first set all dials to a full integer, and then a rack-and-pinion drive to set the dials from a full integer position to zero.

This invention concerns dial resetting mechanisms, and more particularly mechanisms for resetting the dials of metering devices such as a gasoline pump back to the zero position in a single stroke by a rack-and-pinion mechanism without danger of jamming, even though one of the wheels may be in an intermediate position between two integers at the time that the resetting is attempted.

A common type of meter, as used for example in fuel delivery, includes a plurality of number-carrying discs which can be rotated to display appropriate ones of these numbers behind windows in a face plate so as to spell out, e.g., the total gallonage delivered. These mechanisms are commonly of such construction that while the higher order (i.e. units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.) dials are always held at a full integer position by detent mechanisms, the lowest order (i.e. tenths) dial is generally driven directly from the input drive mechanism and can therefore stop at the end of a delivery in any position, including positions between two integers. The only time a higher order dial can be between integers is during a change from one integer to the next; and such change necessarily always takes place while the lowest order dial is between the integers 9 and 0. Consequently in such mechanisms, if the lowest order dial is on a full integer, the higher order dials must also be on a full integer.

It will be readily appreciated that if it is attempted to reset such a mechanism to zero by means of a rack-andpinion type mechanism, at least the pinion associated with the lowest order dial, and perhaps even other pinions, could possibly be in such an angular position as to catch on the rack and jam the mechanism or cause it to operate faultily.

In the past, this difficulty has been overcome either by mechanisms which required several actuations of a control lever in order to complete a resetting operation, or which were of considerable mechanical complexity.

The present invention solves the problem very simply by using a Geneva drive to set the lowest order dial to a full integer position before permitting engagement of the rack mechanism with the dial pinions, so that any mismatching of the rack-andpinion is prevented.

It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a simple mechanism for resetting a dial mechanism in which at least one of the dials is adapted to stop in any random angular position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rackand-pinion type resetting mechanism by means of which a plurality of dials can be reset to zero in a single stroke by the rotary movement of a single control member through any desired predetermined arc, and which is jamproof.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a mechanism of the type described in which the accidental missetting of the lowest order dial by the return movement of the rack is effectively prevented.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a perusal of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a device of the type to which the invention relates;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation View, partly schematic, of the mechanism of this invention in its rest position, i.e., immediately following a metered delivery;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing the position of the Geneva drive as it begins to reset the lowest order dial to a full integer position.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the mechanism at the beginning of the reset cycle, immediately following the resetting of the lowest order dial to a full integer position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the mechanism in the portion of the resetting cycle during which the dials are actually being reset to zero;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the rack mechanism in its extreme actuated position, with all the dials having been reset to zero;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the mechanism in the position in which it is immediatel following the return of the rack mechanism to its rest position;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the mechanism upon completion of the reset operation and in readiness for the next delivery; and

FIG. 10 is an end elevation of the device in the position of FIG. 9.

Basically, the device of this invention functions by disengaging the dials or register mechanism from the input drive mechanism by disengaging the clutch, using a Geneva drive to position the lowest order dial in a full integer position, placing a stop into the path of the dial mechanisms to prevent their return beyond the zero position, using a slide or rack adapted to engage pinions with two omitted teeth in appropriate positions to drive each dial back to the zero position, using the Geneva drive to hold the lowest order dial in its zero position during re turn of the rack mechanism, and reengaging the clutch to reconnect the register mechanism to the transfer mechamsm.

Referring now to the drawings, the output shaft of the input drive mechanism is indicated at 10. The motion of the shaft 10 is transmitted to the driving element 12 of a clutch 14 whose driven element is designated as 16. The driving element 12 of clutch 14 can be moved out of engagement with the driven element 16 by means of a conventional fork arrangement 18. The motion of driven element 16 is transmitted by suitable gearing (not shown) to the shaft 20 of the lowest order dial 22.

The higher order dials 24 through 30 are actuated by the movement of the lowest order dial 22 through appropriate mechanisms well known to the metering art. Suffice it to say that the dials 24 through 30 are each provided with conventional detent mechanisms (not shown) which bias them into a full integer position, i.e., cause them to snap to the next integer position as soon as they are moved more than half way toward it; or if between integers at the end of a delivery, to snap back to the previous full integer position when the next lower order dial is turned backward. In other words, the mechanism of the dials 24 through 30 is of such a nature that they can stop in a position between two integers only if the preceding dial is between nine and zero; but it will be readily realized that this being the case this condition can occur only when the lowest order dial is also between nine and zero, and therefore a setting of the lowest order 3 dial 22 to a full integer will of necessity also result in the setting of all other dials to a full integer.

Let it now be assumed that a delivery has taken place and that the delivery has been terminated with the dials 22 through 30 in the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this condition, the appropriate numerals show to the customer through the viewing window 32 in the face plate 33 of the meter.

If it is now desired to reset the meter to zero, rotary motion in the direction of the arrow 34 is imparted to shaft 36 by means of a knob 37. A crank or powered device of any desired configuration may of course be used in lieu of knob 37 as desired. The shaft 36 carries a gear 38 whose teeth are engaged by an anti-reversal pawl 40. The gear 38 engages a gear 42 which is keyed to the shaft 44 so as to cause shaft 44 to rotate in the direction of the arrow 46 as shaft 36 is turned.

For the proper operation of the device, it is only necessary that shaft 44 rotate through one full revolution for each operation of the resetting mechanism. With the gear ratios as shown in the drawings, this implies that shaft 36 must also be rotated through one full revolution; but it will be understood that depending on the ratio between gears 38 and 42, one full revolution of shaft 44 can also be accomplished by more or by less than one full revolution of shaft 36.

Shaft 44 also carries a cam 48 on which rides a cam follower 50. The cam follower 50 is journaled in a lever arm 52 which is pivoted at 54 and operates the fork mechanism 18 to disengage the clutch 14 when the cam follower rides up onto the high surface of cam 48 at the beginning of the counterclockwise rotary motion of shaft 44. Thus, the first operation in the resetting sequence is the disconnection of the lowest order dial from the input drive mechanism.

Referring now to the detail of FIGS. 3 and 4 it will be seen that as the counterclockwise rottaion of shaft 44 continues, the leading edge 54 of Geneva cam 56 engages the surface of Geneva wheel 58 and pushes the lowest order dial 22 attached thereto in a clockwise direction to the next lower full integer Where the surfaces of the Geneva wheel 58 and the Geneva cam 56 mate as shown in FIG. 5.

With the lowest order dial 22 now stabilized as shown in FIG. 5, further rotation of shaft 44 brings the mechanism to the condition of FIG. 6 in which the tooth 60 of segment gear 62 engages the recess 64 of the rack slide 66. The slide 66 is restricted to longitudinal movement by rollers 68, 70 movable in slots 72, 74, respectively, of the slide 66. The slide 66 is biased toward the right in FIGS. 2. through 9 by means of a spring 76.

As the mechanism begins its movement from the position of FIG. 6 to the position of FIG. 7, pin 78, which is movable in slot 80 of the slide 66, is pushed upward at the beginning of the leftward movement of slide 66. Pin 78 is mounted on the end of arm 82, which is pivoted on the frame of the device at 84. The upward movement of pin 78 moves arm 82 from its FIG. 6 position to its FIG. 7 position; and since pin 78 is also movable in slot 86 of the stop slide 88, the upward movement of pin 78 causes stop slide 88 to move slightly to the left into the position shown in FIG. 7. It will be understood that the movement of the stop slide 88 is limited to longitudinal movement by the interaction of slots 90, 92 and rollers 68, 70.

With the stop slide 88 now in its left position, the rack teeth 94 of the rack slide 66 engage the teeth of dial pinions 96, 98, 100, 102 and 104. It will be noted that two teeth are omitted on each of the pinions 96 through 104. The missing teeth are so arranged on the pinion that the rack teeth 94 cannot engage the pinion when the dial associated therewith is in the zero position.

As the rack slide 66 continues its leftward movement under the influence of the engagement of rotating gear segment 62 with the drive teeth 106, it will be seen that 4 all the pinions which are not already in the zero position will be driven in a clockwise direction until they have been returned to the zero position in which they are held centered by their dials detent mechanism (not shown), and by the elongated rack teeth 107 (FIG. 7). In the zero position, the missing teeth of the affected pinion cause disengagement of the pinion from the rack slide 66. Accidental movement of the pinions 96 through 104 beyond the zero position under the momentum of the slide is prevented by the engagement of stops 108 of the stop slide 88 with dogs 110 associated with pinions 96 through 104.

The rack slide 66 remains for some time in its leftmost position as its corner 112 rides along the surface 114 of the segment gear 62, as best shown in FIG. 7. This delay (on the order of a small fraction of a second) in the return of the rack slide 66 permits the dials to come to rest under the action of their detents (in the case of the higher order dials 24 through 30) and permits Geneva cam 116 to come into registration with Geneva wheel 58. As the corner 112 of slide 66 comes free of surface 114 of segmen gear 62, slide 66 returns to its rightmost position under the influence of spring 76. Since all the dials are now in the zero position, no pinion teeth are in the way of the rack teeth 94, and consequently, the rack slide 66 can move back freely without touching any of the pinions 96 through 104. At the end of its rightward motion, the return movement of pin 78 moves the stop slide 88 rightward to pull the stops 108 out of the way of dogs 110. During the return movement of rack slide '66, dials 24 through 30 are held centered in their zero position by their detent mechanism (not shown) and the lowest order dial 22 is held against movement by the register of Geneva cam 116 with the Geneva wheel 58.

As the shaft 44 completes its revolution and returns to the position of FIG. 9 (identical to that of FIG. 2) cam follower 50 drops back into the trough of cam 84, and clutch 14 is reengaged to reconnect the lowest order dial 22 to the input drive mechanism 10.

It will be appreciated that in practice, an appropriate interlock mechanism (not shown) may have to be provided to prevent rotation of shaft 36 while a delivery is in progress. Obviously, the present invention is susceptible of being carried out in many different ways, of which the embodiment shown and described is merely illustrative. Consequently, I do not desire to be limited by the embodiment of this specification, but rather only by the scope of the following claims:

I claim:

1. A single-cycle resetting mechanism for meter dials in which at least one of said dials is adapted to be reset from a position other than on a full integer, comprising:

(a) means for resetting said dials to zero from a full integer position; and

(b) means for setting to a full integer position prior to actuation of said resetting means those dials which are not in a full integer position prior to the resetting operation.

2. The device of claim 1, in which said last-named means include Geneva drive means arranged to be in a non-driving position only when the lowest order dial of said mechanism is in a full integer position.

3. A single-cycle resetting mechanism for meter dials in which at least one of said dials is adapted to be reset from a position other than on a full integer, and in which all higher order dials are biased into a full integer position whenever the lowest order dial is in a full integer position, comprising:

(a) master driveshaft means adapted to be rotated through one full revolution to execute a resetting operation;

(b) means for disengaging said lowest order dial from its input drive mechanism during the rotation of said master means;

(0) cam means on said master means including a Geneva cam segment cooperating with a Geneva Wheel associated with the lowest order dial of said mechanism to move said lowest order dial upon rotation of said master means and becoming disengaged therefrom upon further rotation of said master means to a full integer position;

(d) means operative following disengagement of said Geneva cam segment for resetting said dials from any full integer position to zero.

4. The device of claim 3, further comprising second Geneva cam segment means engageable with said Geneva wheel following completion of the resetting movement of said resetting means to hold said lowest order dial during further motion of said resetting means.

5. A single-cycle resetting mechanism for meter dials in which at least one of said dials is adapted to be reset from a position other than on a full integer, and in which all higher order dials are biased into a full integer position whenever the lowest order dial is in a full integer position, comprising:

(a) master driveshaft means adapted to be rotated through one full revolution to execute a resetting operation;

(b) first cam means on said master means cooperating with a follower mechanism to disengage said dials from their input drive mechanism during the rotation of said master means;

() second cam means on said master means including a Geneva cam segment cooperating with a Geneva wheel associated with the lowest order dial of said mechanism to move said lowest order dial upon rotation of said master means and becoming disengaged therefrom upon further rotation of said master means to a full integer position;

(d) pinion means associated with each of said dials,

said pinion means having two teeth omitted;

(e) rack means held out of engagement with saidtpinion means but slidably engageable with each of said pinion means simultaneously, said omitted teeth of said pinion means being so positioned that said rack means cannot engage said pinion means when the dial associated therewith is in the zero position; and

(f) third cam means on said master means for moving said rack means into engagement with said pinion means following disengagement of said second cam means and rotating said pinions through a suflicient arc to turn all of them to their dials zero position, and to thereby disengage them from said rack.

6. The device of claim 5 further comprising fourth cam means on said master means including at Geneva cam segment cooperating with said Geneva wheel to hold said lowest order dial in its zero position during the return movement of said rack means, said fourth cam means being disengageable from said Geneva wheel upon completion of the rotation of said master means.

7. The device of claim 5, in which said third cam means provide a time delay between the completion of the forward movement of said rack means and its return movement.

8. The device of claim 5, further comprising stop means operatively engageable with said pinion means and actuated by said rack means while said rack means is out of home position to prevent overrun of said dials beyond zero during resetting.

9. The method of resetting a set of meter dials including a freely rotatable lower order dial and dials of higher order biased into full integer positions at least when said units dial is in a full integer position, comprising the steps of:

(a) disengaging said lowest order dial from its input drive mechanism;

(b) moving said lowest order dial to a full integer;

(c) releasing said lowest order dial;

(d) simultaneously resetting all dials to zero; and

(e) Ieengaging said lowest order dial with its input drive mechanism.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of holding said lowest order dial against movement between completion of the resetting operation and the reengagement of the lowest order dial with the input drive mechanism.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,095,329 10/1937 Hazard 235144 3,223,322 12/1965 Hoflmann 235-117 3,309,018 3/1967 Wilson 235-94 FOREIGN PATENTS 243,582 2/ 1963 Australia.

STEPHEN J. TOMSKY, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 23594; 22232 

